Isn't It Obvious?
by Katsumi Nara
Summary: Shikamaru is lazy, unmotivated and hates putting effort into anything... so why did he become a ninja? Ino wants to know, everyone else seems to know already but they just won't tell her! ShikaIno
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Why Did You Become A Ninja?  


The rain battered down in torrents upon the muddy ground. Not a single sound rose above the rainfall. It had been like this for almost half an hour, and the dark figure standing by the war memorial was beginning to wonder if he'd been abandoned. He kept his senses sharp however, as he remained unmoving in the storm.

Suddenly, he spun around, blocking two kunai and a senbon, the sound ringing through the evening air. He kept his guard up for a moment before spotting the glow at his feet. Just barely reacting swiftly enough he leapt into the air as the dirt exploded where he had previously been standing. Well, at least they were getting a little more creative.

Just as he landed he froze. This wasn't unexpected, but it was certainly problematic. He kept his eyes open, expecting an attack at any moment. Unable to move, he was completely at their mercy. So where were they? This question was answered by a startled cry not far to his left. He found himself able to control hi own body again. Evidently something had gone wrong for them again.

Deciding he'd had enough of this he disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared next to two downtrodden looking boys. Dodging a punch from the opposite direction he flipped a young girl ito the group.

"To borrow a phrase of yours, Shikamaru, This is getting troublesome"

Asuma and his student's took shelter in the lobby of the Academy. The halls were unusually empty due to the recent storm. Shikamaru and Choji gumbled as they dried off. Ino was vigorously brushing her hair, looking absolutely livid.

"Why do we have to train today of all days?" she complained loudly. "I don't even think Lee and Gai are insane enough to-"

She shut up as she spotted two pairs of green clothed legs pass by the window, upside down and at an incredible speed. Shikamaru sighed and mumbled his agreement. Choji had distracted himself with the large candy bar he'd packed. Asuma groaned as he sat opposite his pupils. Not for the first time, he wondered why his uncle had saddled him with the least motivated in this years crop of genin.

"I suppose you think that all your missions will take place on wonderful days full of sunshine, Ino?"

The blond huffed and turned away indignantly as she started tying her hair back. The other two exchanged a glance which quite plainly expressed their displeasure at being there. Shaking his head, Asuma took out and lit a cigarette. The deal had been that they would train until one of them landed a solid hit on him. Evidently Choji had struggled to take advantage of Shikamaru's Shadow Possession. The three of them were now sitting opposite him, still recovering.

"Alright guys, there's something that's been bothering me for a while now. I was going to ask this when you were first assigned me as your squad leader, but at the time I thought it better that I didn't know, that it was too early for me to judge" he started, looking at each of them in turn. "I want each of you to tell me; why did you become ninja?"

They all stared at him in surprise. It wasn't the question they had been expecting. If anything they had mostly expected it to be about Kurenai. Eventually Shikamaru spoke up.

"Why this all of a sudden, sensei?" he asked, drawing his teacher's attention.

"I've tried my best to motivate you three, but nothing seems to work. You do the bare minimum to get by with your missions, complaining all the way, you all hate training and in general seem to dislike the entirety of ninja lifestyle" h explained, "So I'm curious: Why do it?"

The three genin each reacted differently, but hardly unpredictably; Choji looked slightly depressed, Shikamaru looked annoyed. Ino opened her mouth as if to answer but clearly thought better of it and returned to looking sullen and put out. Asuma exhaled tiredly, he had thought at least one of them would say that they were a ninja because it was what their parents wanted, but none of them seemed to know, or at least willing to answer.

After a few minutes though, he was surprised to hear Choji mumble quietly.

"I always looked up to my Dad, and wanted to be just like him, and make him proud..." he admitted, "... I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't think it would be _this_ difficult..."

Asuma nodded. That made sense enough, a lot of genin felt overwhelmed with the change in training regime. He'd have to try and help Choji find a way to turn training into something positive in his mind, something more effective, and less costly, than bribing him with food. He looked across at Ino. She had looked like she was giving the question some serious consideration. Eventually she spoke up.

"My reason for wanting to be a ninja now is different from when I started. Before it was for silly, childish things... but now I want to help protect the village, my friends, our allies, I guess"

Asuma raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had half expected Sasuke to be mentioned. But it seemed that she had grown up quite a lot since her early days. Clearly Shikamaru was just as surprised, judging from teh look he was now giving her. Asuma cleared his throat to get his attention. The young genius turned to his teacher.

"I'm not a good liar, so I'm simply not going to explain myself"

Ino's head snapped around to glare at him. What on earth made _him_ so damn special? She and Choji both explained their decision, and now he was just refusing to answer? She was about to say something when Asuma raised his hand.

"That's fine," the Jonin said calmly, "I'd have liked to know, but as long as there is a valid reason i don't mind."

Ino turned to her sensei with some sort of demonic fury in hewr eyes. He hadn't made _that_ clear when he asked them. She wasn't satisfied though. Now she was determined to know why that lazy, good for nothing slob had decided to become a ninja. He was smart enough to do anything he put his mind to, why not choose something that requires less effort? Looking across at Choji she noticed that he seemed completely unfazed by Shikamaru's refusal. Perhaps he knew?

Just as they were leaving Ino tapped Choji's shoulder and motioned for him to follow her into an empty classroom. He looked confused but went without questioning, still munching on the food he'd brought. She shut the door behind them and turned around, arms folded to confront the chubby ninja.

"So what's the deal with Shikamaru? Do _you_ have any idea why he became a ninja?"

His reaction was definitely not what Ino had been expecting, He simply looked at her with a hint of bemusement lining his face. Evidently he found something quite humorous in Ino's curiosity. After a moment or two he chuckled slightly.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, looking at his dumbfounded team-mate. When she looked back at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation he decided it would be best to excuse himself. "Look, it's not important, and nothing you should worry about. We better get going, Asuma will be wondering where we are".

Ino fumed as she spent the rest of the rainy day taking shelter under a tree (The three of them had silently agreed to let Asuma stand out in the rain all he wanted. She glared across at Choji. He knew, but he wasn't telling. "Fine" she thought, "I'll find out another way, if it's the last thing I do!"

Author Notes: Hi all, well here's the first chapter of (hopefully) another ShikaIno fic. Let's be honest, this entire plotline is so transparent and predictable that I doubt you'd have trouble finding similar fics with very little effort. But nuts to you I'm writing it anyway!

Doubt this will turn out very good, if at all, I haven't much of an idea of what I'm going to do with it.

As readers of Rose Tinted Clouds will already know, I end chapters with a small teaser of the next chapter. So here it is:

She gulpd before continuing  
"Um... excuse me... I don't want to be nosy but... why are you standing out here disguised as a bush?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Gotta Know! The Investigation Begins!

The next day, a heavy fog hung over Konoha, rendering everything a dismal grey. The village's lanterns were lit in a feeble attempt to alleviate the gloom. The village shinobi were patrolling en mass, in case any spies took advantage of the lessened visibility. This risk didn't excuse the genin from their training however. Team Ten had been given an assignment to use tracking and information gathering skills to locate Asuma, who was hiding somewhere in the village.

He'd set it up as a competitive task, an idea he'd borrowed from Kakashi; the first two to find him would be treated to lunch, the last one having to pay for themselves. Ino chuckled as she left the shop. She was always up at the crack of dawn, so she had little doubt that she was the first to find the note their sensei had left them. She had no interest in the challenge, however, as she was on a low carb, low sugar, low fat, calorie-busting super diet. She planned to use the day to her own end.

As a result she was soon crouching, hidden, outside the Nara household. There was no way someone as lazy as Shikamaru would be up already. She would follow him, and see if she could get some clue as to why he became a ninja. Perhaps he'd give something away with his guard down.

As she sat there, eyes locked onto the front door, she went through in her head as many possibilities as she could think of. Maybe he wasn't really lazy, and he actually enjoyed exerting himself! But that didn't make sense... why would he pretend otherwise? Oh! Maybe his Dad pressured him into it! No wait, Shikamaru had proven time and time again that he didn't stand for his Dad's attitude.

Maybe it was because he of Choji. Maybe he became a ninja to help boost Choji's confidence. That was the most likely so far. But then why wouldn't Choji have just said that? And what was so amusing about it all? The whole ordeal was so frustrating. Deciding to focus all her attention on watching for signs of movement, she redirected her thoughts through the mist at the door

She was so focused in fact, that she didn't notice the slouching figure approach her from the side. She jumped about a foot in the air when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Squeaking loudly she spun around ready to yell at whoever had dared surprise her like that. Her rage was instantaneously replaced with confusion when she found herself looking into a pair of startled, lavender tinted eyes.

"H...Hinata?" she stuttered slightly. Well that was unexpected. The Hyuga heiress took a step back and began fidgeting nervously.

"Oh... it's you... I was just... um..."

Ino raised an eyebrow. She was past the surprise now and was worriedly glancing at the door every now and then. She didn't have anything against Hinata, but the girl could really do with developing some self confidence. Ino didn't have time to be flustering about with her fellow kunoichi; what if Shikamaru disappeared when she wasn't looking? So she decided to prompt her slightly.

"Just...what?" she said as nicely as she could, which was unfortunately, a little impatient sounding.

She gulped before continuing

"Um... excuse me... I don't want to be nosy but... why are you standing out here disguised as a bush?"

Ino flinched slightly before looking down at the scattering of leaves and branches around her feet. She had thought it was quite a clever hiding place, especially since there were bushes lining the fence along this road. On top of that the mist would have made it even harder to spot someone hiding in it. Ino looked back up at Hinata.

"Well... I was...you see..." She suddenly felt a new level of sympathy for her former classmate, suddenly she snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah! It was part of a training exercise for Asuma-sensei!" she lied bluntly, "We're supposed to use information gathering skills to try and learn certain details about our team-mates without them knowing! In my case, I need to find out why Shikamaru wanted to become a ninja"

Hinata didn't look thoroughly convinced, but she nodded in understanding all the same. She looked from Ino to the disguise and finally to Shikamaru's house. Suddenly she got a bit flustered.

"Oh my! I didn't ruin your exercise did I?" Ino blinked a couple of times before she caught on to what Hinata meant.

"Oh, no not at all" she assured her, "Though I must say, you must be quite observant to have spotted me" she added, in an attempt to help Hinata's self esteem. The shy young ninja blushed slightly.

"Um... actually... it's just that.. .well... I walk this way quite a lot you see... so it's not surprising that I'd notice something that wasn't there before..." she explained. Ino nodded as she realized just how dumb her plan had been. There was no way Shikamaru wouldn't have noticed a new bush right outside his door.

At that moment the aforementioned door opened. Ino jumped around and was oddly relieved to see Shikaku's face peering back questioningly, frozen halfway through reaching for a bottle of milk on the doorstep. He stood up smiling when he realized who it was.

"Good morning girls" he greeted as he stood up. The two of them bowed and returned the greeting, "If you're looking for Shikamaru, he's not in. He sometimes leaves before any of us are up, no idea where he goes though" he explained.

After explaining that they weren't looking for Shikamaru and that they had just happened to meet here and had started chatting they walked off together. After a minute of awkward silence, Ino turned her head to Hinata.

"So how come you're up so early?" she asked, anything to break the tension.

"Oh.. well, Kiba and Shino are quite.. enthusiastic about training" she answered timidly. That figured; Ino had to admit, as much as she hadn't liked the idea of being teamed with Shikamaru and Choji, she knew she'd absolutely _despise_ being on a team with those two. In her eyes, Hinata was strong simply for putting up with them.

"Fair enough," the two of them came to a junction, "Well, I guess I'd better go find him" Ino sighed. Before she turned to leave she figured it was worth asking.

"I don't suppose _you_ know why he became a ninja?" she asked. In response Hinata, much to Ino's surprise, blushed furiously.

"Oh!..Uh...well, I... I guess... well I'm not really..."

Alarms went off in Ino's head. Why would such a simple question set her off like this? Did she really know something? Ino decided it was time to bring out the big guns. She put on her cutest, most pleading face she could. No one to date had been able to resist the patented Ino Yamanaka Special Pout.

"Ahh! well... I don't know the reason... but I know he smiles the most when he's on missions with you guys" she gushed, "At least that's the case with the missions our teams have carried out together!"

Ino's face returned to normal. Dammit. She'd clearly come across a worthy adversary in this one. But she supposed it was at last something; especially considering that their teams _did_ work together a lot, thanks to Asuma and Kurenai, no doubt. She thanked Hinata as she spotted Kiba and Shino approaching through the fog. She didn't particularly want to deal with those two if it cold be helped. besides,she had to go find Shikamaru. 

Shino and Kiba greeted their team-mate, their eyes following the blonde and purple blur heading off in the other direction. They both though it, but Kiba was first to say it.

"What did Ino want with you?"

Hinata turned to the two of them. She filled them in on what had happened, which took a few minutes with the occasional outbreak of stuttering. But the boys were used to it, and throughout the explanation Kiba's face grew gradually redder as he was evidently trying not to laugh. This didn't last though, and as soon as she finished his laughter woke up several nearby residents.

"Oh boy, that's classic!" he cackled, "Wasn't she, like, top of or class? How can someone THAT smart be as clueless as Naruto?"

**Author's Notes:  
**_Well I told myself if this got enough hits or a single review in the first twelve hours I would continue it. So here's the second chapter. I apologize if I am slow to update this, as I am currently working on a collaboration with DJ-Rage on our joint account YoinokuchiStudios. _

Teaser:

She looked up at him. This was both ironic and indisputably unfair; she needed an excuse and fast. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Are You Serious?

Ino dashed through the streets, her impatience starting to get the better of her. Where on earth _was_ he? It was weird enough that he was even awake at this hour; but for him to be so hard to locate? that was just downright infuriating. On top of that she thought she'd heard Kiba laughing as she left. If she found out he had been laughing at her she'd punch him so hard in his face that his dentist would shiver.

Shaking off that thought she kept her pace through the village. The damn fog didn't help things, masking passers by and occasionally concealing a turn. She spent a lot of time apologizing to people she bumped into, or whose belongings she knocked over. She tried to imagine wher Shikamaru might go so early in the morning. What would he be doing?

Naturally, one activity came to mind immediately: cloud watching. He was always going on about clouds. Keeping this in mind Ino started looking higher. Leaping from roof to roof she scanned her surroundings as best she could. After crossing half the village she gave up. He couldn't possibly be watching clouds on a day like this.

She was beginning to think it was a waste of time; that she'd be just as well waiting for better weather. But when would she get a chance like this again? Sighing impatiently she resolved to try less obvious places. Changing direction she began to make her way towards the training field. If she knew Shikamaru; it was the last place he'd go voluntarily. _"At least that's what he'd expect us to think"_ she thought to herself - feeling rather clever. Where better to hide than somewhere no one thought you'd ever be?

Turning a corner just past the Academy she found herself falling forward. He reflexes kicked in just before she bit the dirt. Turning around, she scanned the street, intending to beat sixteen shades of bruises into whoever had tripped her. Her eyes widened with shock at what she found.

"Looks like you win one of the free meals"

No way. This couldn't happen. It was far too soon. Without the guise of a mission she couldn't carry out her own personal task. Marching back over to her sensei, who was now brushing a few loose leaves and twigs out of his beard, she scowled.

"Sensei, you know I used to walk this way to Academy _every day" _she pointed out. "You honestly think I wouldn't notice something that wasn't there before?" she silently thanked Hinata; after all she could hardly admit that she had found him by accident. "I refuse to accept this as a success" she said with a heavy tone of finality. "You must hide again sensei - and actually test our abilities this time!"

Asuma raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and disappeared in a cloud of smoke all the same. He had stopped trying to understand his students a long time ago. Besides it was too early in the morning. Resigning that Ino had a point he decided to actually put some effort into hiding this time. After all; the best case scenario would be for Ino and Shikamaru to find him. They wouldn't be as big a hit on his finances as Choji,

Ino continued making her way towards the training ground. As she went, a distant, practical portion of her mind was telling her that by now Shikamaru must surely have moved from wherever he had gone early this morning. But much louder was the realistic portion of her mind that told her that he wasn't exactly known for his constant mobility. She stopped to catch her breath before approaching the training ground.

Peering from behind a tree she groaned disappointedly. He wasn't here. However she figured it couldn't hurt to ask the team that _was_ here if they'd seen him; so she walked over to where Tenten was sitting, watching Lee and Neji spar. Swallowing slightly she stood behind her.

"Hi, there" she said cheerily.

After exchanging greetings and the usual small talk (missions, training and whatever random oddities were befalling Konoha this week) Ino explained her "mission" to Tenten and asked if she had seen Shikamaru around. She was quite surprised to hear Lee answering.

"You do not need to seek him out" he announced. Ino blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes because it is actually painfully obvious: he became a ninja because-"

His next words were practically kicked back down his throat by Tenten as she yelled "Surprise Attack! A new challenger has appeared!". While she and Lee exchanged blows across the grounds Neji cleared his throat and spoke matter-of-factly to Ino, although he seemed to be making a conscious effort not to look at her while doing so.

"Please excuse Lee; he decides on facts before considering alternatives" he explained. "We wouldn't want his opinion to weigh too much on your mind, especially as the info is crucial to your... mission". Why did Ino get the feeling he saw right through her. Besides the fact that... you know... he _could. _"You'd be better acquiring it straight from the source" he finished decisively, almost dissmisively.

Taking the hint Ino turned to leave. Her eyes fell on the Great Hokage Faces. A crazy thought occured to her and she began to make her way back towards the village. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she heard giggling behind her. _"Why do I keep feeling like everyone's in on some big secret that I just can't understand?" _she thought as she left. She'd have to kick this paranoid streak she was developing.

Back at the training, Tenten held her hands up in apology to Neji, who was giving her a disapproving look. "I'm sorry! But it's just so _cuuuute_!" she chanted. Lee looked thoroughly confused as he sat cross-legged, with one toe supporting his weight on the handle of a kunai he'd stuck into the ground. It looked excruciatingly painful, but he seemed used to it.

"Do you really believe that I am mistaken, Neji?" he asked, almost despondently. In response, Neji turned away from his teammates.

"Not at all, in fact I'm certain you're correct" he answered, "However; it would be innapropriate for her to hear it from us" he explained. Tenten nodded in agreement, before jumping up and hugging Neji from behind.

"Aww Neji, I never thought you were the type to care!" she teased as Lee fell off his kunai laughing at the young Hyuga's face.

Author Notes  
Sorry this one took so long... Aside from being unusually busy, it seems my muse has abandoned me (the lazy skank!) I'm not sure how long it will be before I post again. Could be a while... a _long _while. So thank you all for your feedback and patience, and sorry for this and all forthcoming delays.

Teaser:

Snapping out of her reverie, something glinted in the corner of Ino's eye. Jogging closer, Ino saw that whatever it was, it was buried under a small collection of rocks; almost as if someone had hidden it there.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Clue or Conundrum

Ino stopped for a moment to catch her breath. It was even chillier than she had expected as she gazed out across the land of fire from the top of the Hokage Cliffs. It was getting close to midday now and she was in a less than agreeable mood. It hadn't helped that Sakura had practically laughed her out of the village when she asked if she had any idea why Shikamaru became a ninja.

She wasn't entirely sure what possessed her to climb up here. She supposed it was because the fog couldn't form here for some strange reason. Where better to come cloud watching on a foggy day after all. However, the trip turned out to be a wasted one, as Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen. Ino walked along the top of the cliff until she came to a slightly raised portion where she slumped down and sighed exasperatedly.

it had annoyed her before, when he had refused to explain why; but now Ino was even more frustrated, because it seemed like everyone already knew. Were they intentionally keeping her out of the loop? Why would they do that? More to the point, why would they all know in the first place? If he'd told them, then why couldn't he tell her? These questions whirled through her mind as she frowned up at the sky.

Snapping her out of her reverie, something glinted in the corner of Ino's eye. Standing up and jogging closer, Ino saw that, whatever it was, it was buried under a small collection of rocks; almost as if someone had hidden it there. When she moved the rubble away, she picked up a small bronze cylinder.

"A telescope?" she mumbled to herself, somewhat confused. "I wonder why it was under there".

She stood there, examining her discovery for a few minutes. However there was nothing that could help her identify it's owner. Replacing it, she decided to come back later and see if she could catch them. For now she had to get back to the village before she was late to be told she had failed the exercise.

When she met the others at the restaurant, Asuma offered to pay for her anyway, since she had technically found him first. But she declined, telling her sensei off for not sticking to his guns. As they sat there, Ino stared across the table at Shikamaru; trying to work out what sort of reason he could have for being a ninja that he would want to hide. It must be something quite obvious if even Gai's team seemed to know. But her teammate wasn't giving anything away.

After they had finished their meal, Ino bid the others farewell and dashed off home to prepare for her stakeout. She was fairly sure that this would have nothing to do with Shikamaru and her current investigation. Nevertheless it was a distraction she couldn't afford to let weigh on her mind. She had already formed a plan.

Later that evening, Ino hid a small stash of food atop the cliff, making sure it was hidden so that there was no chance of somebody stumbling across it by accident. Hurrying back home, she moved her bed so that it lay parallel to her window. Her parents were used to her occasionally rearranging the furniture in her room, so this wouldn't raise their suspicions. Carefully positioning herself, she planned to make it appear to anyone who might come across her, that she was simply in a deep sleep.

Watching out her window from beneath her covers, her light blue eyes scanning the darkening sky, she soon found what she had been hoping for: a bird. An owl had fluttered into view, blissfully unaware of it's fate. Within seconds Ino had formed her hand signs.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Suddenly, she had a birdseye view of Konoha. Flying down to her window, she made sure that her body had fallen as she'd hoped. Exactly as planned, nothing looked odd or out of place. Having assured herself, Ino took off into the night, riding the autumn breeze to begin her vigil. She hoped that the owner of the telescope would show up before her chakra ran out; the food she'd prepared would only last so long, after all.

She perched on a rock near her rations for what seemed like an eternity, occasionally pecking at the food. Now and then her mind would play tricks on her, making her imagine shadows flitting across the horizon. Looking up, she could see the faint glow of stars begin to light up the night sky.

Teaser  
What in the world was with him asking that all of a sudden? she wracked her brains trying to work out how that could possibly be relevant right now.

Author's Notes

I want to apologise first, for the delay - I've still not worked out how to expand this story, although all your reviews have helped me cement an ending. Now it's just a case of reaching it, which I don't think will be too far off. So thank you all for the unexpected support of a fic I never planned to write. If things go as I plan as I write this, this will be posted on the 25th, so Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - End of the Investigation

The night grew colder as Ino waited. She was beginning to think that her mysterious astronomer wasn't going to show up. Shivering, she started complaining to herself; all this effort wasted, having sat out all night in the middle of autumn, having to pick at tiny bits of food at a time just to maintain her jutsu. It was almost enough to make her want to beat up whoever had left that stupid telescope up here.

She was starting to sway slightly on her perch as the night dragged on. She eventually decided to give up. Whoever it was, they clearly weren't paying a visit tonight. Releasing the jutsu, her owl eyes opened briefly before she experienced the familiar feeling of her mind returning to her body; like rushing backwards through a tunnel. When she opened her eyes in her room she gasped and sat bolt upright.

Just as she'd left. She'd seen a silhouette appear on the horizon.

Minutes later, the determined young ninja was racing towards the Great Hokage Cliffs. She couldn't believe her bad luck as she sprinted through the streets of Konoha, moving so fast it barely felt like her feet were even touching the ground.

"_You are __**not**__ getting away" _she mentally warned her quarry.

When Ino eventually reached the cliffs, she realised how heavily she was panting. Not wanting to alarm whoever was up there, she slowed her pace in order to catch her breath. As she ascended to the top, her mind was racing through different ways to approach this. After all this was just a curiosity that she wanted to rid herself of before returning to her _real_ investigation.

In the end she decided to try and find out who the mystery night hiker was before she approached them. If it was someone she recognized from the village she would probably leave them be. However the telescope had excited in her ideas of enemy spies and other such adventurous possibilities. Her every sense and muscle was focused and ready when she creeped up to the edge; half expecting to see some sinister figure, posed on sentry - perhaps helping to co-ordinate an attack.

So you can imagine her surprise, when she saw - not a dark mysterious stranger; but a familiar outline that could only belong to one person. Sitting at the very edge of the cliff, just above the fourth Hokage, staring out over the village, was,

"Shikamaru?"

Ino had barely even whispered his name, but nevertheless he had evidently heard her - for the young genin jumped slightly and turned to face her. Ino couldn't make out his expression in this poor light. She walked over to him, standing just behind them as they both asked each other.,

"What are you doing here?"

Ino walked around him, over to the small pile of rocks and retrieved the small telescope. Bringing it over to him, she handed it to him.

"I'm here because I found this, and wondered whose it was" she said simply, "Is it yours?" she asked, although really she had no reason to suspect it might be, other than his presence here. Surely he'd have been using it if it were.

"Yeah... it's mine" he answered, a little quietly, "I... I come up here some nights... to look at the stars" he admitted, getting quieter as he went. Ino blinked in surprise at this revelation. Although when she thought about it, he _did _spend a lot of time with his head in the clouds; was it so far-fetched that he'd be a bit of a space cadet too? Looking up, Ino noted the clouds rolling overhead, obscuring any view of the stars. She couldn't help but ask the obvious question.

"So why are you up here tonight, if you can't seem them?"

Shikamaru had been sitting with his face turned away from her. At this question, he turned his gaze back across the village, staring off at the horizon.

"It's not just the stars I come to watch" he answered, "The fog's been clearing up since yesterday... I came to watch the sunrise" he elaborated, a little less reservedly than before. Ino looked at him with a mix of surprise and apology; she felt guilty at having disturbed him now. However, since she was here.

"Can I... stay and watch with you?" She asked, not sure why she hesitated, "Or I could leave..."

"No!" Shikamaru said suddenly, almost pleadingly, "I mean... I don't mind..." he turned his head away slightly. As they'd been talking, the orange glow of dawn had begun to chase away the shadows of twilight, making it easier for Ino to see her teammate's reactions. He was acting stranger than usual. Nevertheless, Ino sat down and swung her legs over the cliff edge, her stomach giving a slight jump at the inital fear of falling. It didn't take long for her to remind herself that, even if she did fall, she could easily save herself.

The two of them sat quietly for a couple of minutes, watching the sky. During this silence, Ino remembered her "mission". Although, the more she thought about it - she began to realise something.

"Shikamaru?" she said softly, when he grunted in return she continued, "Ever since the other day, I've been trying to find out why you became a ninja-" she held up a hand to silence his interruption here, "- I know, you'd rather not say. I can respect that now, because it just dawned on me that it wasn't curiosity that made me want to know." She'd been looking across at the horizon while she spoke. As she went on she looked down at her clasped hands, "I wasn't annoyed that I didn't know the reason... I was... upset... disappointed that you don't seem to trust us as teammates-". This time she couldn't stop him from interjecting.

"It's not like that" he cried defensively. "It's just... well... a stupid reason... embarrassing even..." he started mumbling, so much so that Ino didn't quite catch the end of his statement. Ino pulled her legs up and turned to face him, kneeling.

"Is that all?" she snapped, "Stupid reasons aren't the sort of thing you need to worry about hiding" she felt her cheeks start to burn. She'd expected something complicated, something horrible that he actually _couldn't _talk about. Not just some stupid reason he didn't want to share because he thought she'd laugh at him or something.

She tried to pin down exactly _why_ she was so angry at him. Maybe it was because everyone but her seemed to know, or at least have some idea. Maybe it was because, rather than look ashamed of himself - he was looking at her as if it were _her_that was being unreasonable. Most likely of all, however, was that he couldn't just spit it out.

Shikamaru looked at his teammate's face with pleading eyes. How could he make her understand? How could he possibly explain, sufficiently, his reason for getting up in the morning to train in the rain and the mud? One thing was becoming clear to him however; he would have to at least try.

"Do...do you remember the day we met?" he asked quietly. This question caught Ino off guard. She frowned slightly.

"At the Acadamy... when our classes were merged, right?" she answered impatiently, urging him to get to the point.

However, she would be disappointed once more. The young Nara sighed softly before muttering something under his breath. Ino barely had time to react before he'd leapt from the edge of the cliff.

Shikamaru hardly heard Ino's brief gasp of surprise as he jumped gracefully down the Hokage faces; his feet expertly finding footholds. Within seconds he had dropped below the treetops and reached ground level and was dashing off towards the centre of the village. By the time he got home, he was quite a mess; with leaves caught in his ponytail and dirt of all sorts smudging his clothes. No doubt his mother would kill him when she woke up.

Not even pausing to consider this, he made his way to his room and slumped down on the edge of his bed. He fell forward, resting his face in his hands as he tried to keep himself in check. Fleeing had been the right thing to do. He knew that, without a starting point, he couldn't be direct with Ino - no matter how he went about it. After a couple of minutes he reached under his bed and pulled out a small ornate box. Resting it on his knees he began to reminisce, for what seemed like the millionth time.

**Author's Notes**

Sorry again for the long wait, regular readers know the severity of my blocks by now. I feel bad leaving you all hanging so long - so I've set up a facebook account which I'll try and keep updated with my activity. So if I've written a paragraph or two I can let you know I'm still alive. Should bea easy enough to find if you search "Katsumi Nara". Maybe it's a stupid idea but hey - no one's making you check it out.

This one's finally coming to an end, here's the last teaser you'll see for a long time.

_Walking into the shop, Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. Carefully stepping around the glass, he made his way to the counter. "Sorry about the window"._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six - Always Tomorrow

_Konoha - Seven Years Ago_

The sun beat down on the dusty streets of Konoha on that fateful summer sunday. The weather did nothing to discourage the ever-energetic village youths - who were always looking for creative and fun ways to show off the result of their studies. As a result of this eagerness, the sport "Ninja Ball" was created; a game loosely based on soccer or football - each team of ninja would start at either end of the village, next to their goal. When the referee signalled the start of the game (by throwing an exploding tag into the air) the two teams would rush towards the centre of the village to gain possession of the ball. The winner was the first team to take the ball to the opposing teams goal. The only rule was that players were not allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

Needless to say this led to a lot of creative tactics being used - clones, substitution jutsu, decoy ball "carriers", spontaneous fights; the game was certainly not tame. It was therefore a surprise to the villagers, to see the form of young Shikamaru Nara sprinting through the streets with a leather ball at his feet and two of his classmates close at his heels. The young ninja had opted to join in since "cloudless skies are boring to watch". He had so far been unopposed by the other team, mainly because the route he was taking was a lot longer than the typical to-the-main-road-and-straight-line-through-the-village approach that the other kids took. His flanking guard kept their eyes peeled all the same.

Just as they rounded a corner in the western part of the village, Shikamaru stopped and spun around as a wave of smoke engulfed them. Trying to squint through the smoke, the young ninja tried to keep his senses sharp for the approach of enemies. Even if it was just a booby trap, the other players would see the smoke and come running. This was soon confirmed by the cries of his teammatesand the thundering footsteps coming towards him. Reaching out a hand to get his bearings, he continued down the street, hoping to make it out of the smokescreen. A few seconds later he burst out of the grey cloud and flicked his fringe out of his eyes, grinning in silent celebration for a moment before all hell broke loose.

Out of the different streets and alleyways ahead poured the entire opposing team, along with one or two of his own in the distance. In the face of all his peers flying towards him, Shikamaru panicked and slammed his foot into the ball, half hoping it would make it through to his teammates, the other half just wanting to lead the rabble of kids away from him. He was partly successful; nothing clears a crowd of children looking to avoid blame faster than the sound of shattering glass.

Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat. But he knew better than to run off and hide; he knew that his mother would somehow figure out he'd done something. It was an irksome talent of hers. So he slowly walked towards the door next to the window he'd broken. Looking up he read "Yamanaka Florist". He knew that name; his dad had mentioned it before, but he couldn't remember anything else

As he pushed the door open, silently hoping he hadn't hurt anyone, he was slightly overwhelmed by the mix of fragrances at first, he glanced around at the various flowers, bouquets, potted plants and hanging baskets that were on display. Moving further into the shop he noticed a few things lying askew, and soon came across a woman in an apron holding the leather ball and surveying the damage with a surprised look. Shyly, with his face hiding under his dark, lengthy hair, Shikamaru approached her.

"I'm sorry about the window, Ma'am" he apologized politely, "I... I can't afford to pay for it but if there's anyth-"

"MOM!" he was interrupted by a loud shrill voice. A light scampering emanated from the back of the shop as a young girl about Shikamaru's age dashed out, "I heard something break, are you alright, what happ-". She caught sight of the bashful looking boy and dodged to hide behind her mother's leg. Shikamaru looked down at his feet, irritated that he now had one more person with their eyes fixed on him. Thankfully, the woman spoke.

"You're Shikamaru, Shikaku's son - if I'm not mistaken" she asked. She sounded kind enough, especially considering the situation. Shikamaru nodded slightly, looking up a little, avoiding the piercing stare the girl was giving him. The shop owner looked contemplative, rubbing her chin slightly.

"Tell you what" she said decisively, "If you help clear up, and come back tomorrow morning, we can work something out". Shikamaru nodded in agreement and thanked her, apologizing again for the disruption. "Ino, honey - can you fetch a dustpan and broom?".

The young girl nodded and scampered out of the room, glancing back over her shoulder as she went. Shikamaru absentmindedly stared at his feet as he nudged a few of the larger piece of shattered clay pot together. He felt even more embarrassed than he'd expected, although he couldn't figure out why. Looking up as he heard Ino return he saw her holding out the broom. Mumbling a thanks reached out. She dropped the broom into his hand and retreated swiftly behind her mother again. Shikamaru glanced up and couldn't help but noticed her blue eyes focused on him, an uninterpretable expression on her face. Looking back down he started clearing.

The following day, Shikamaru was seen darting through Konoha once again, this time devoid of his peers, and with a bag of fliers in lieu of a leather ball. The other children seemed to have decided to lay off their rambunctious activities for the time being, and so it was a comparatively quiet day, much to the delight of the villagers.

Advertising was today's task; although he didn't quite see the point, as it was pretty much the only florist in the village. However, Shikamaru knew that he was in no position to question it. Mrs Yamanaka had told him that he could repay damages by doing some work for them for a couple of weeks. Mostly mundane jobs, so that she could be free to be more active in the shop. It was a pain, but the young Nara agreed.

When he got back to the shop around noon, having delivered all the fliers, he found a glass of water and a sweetroll sitting on the small table next to the hook for the bag. There was a note with "Chore Boy" written on the back in disjointed, untidy handwriting. This had been crossed out and in much neater handwriting on the flip side was a note of thanks, telling him he could leave once he sweeped the shop floor. It wasn't a big store so it didn't take long.

Over the next few days the tasks were in as much the same vein; deliveries, sweeping, checking for dead or dying plants. Each day he was allowed to leave shortly after noon, and each day he found a sweetroll and glass of water sitting somewhere for him. On the eight day, he thought he heard feet shuffling away as he picked up the glass. A couple of days later, he caught Ino peeking around a doorframe. On the last day, he was surprised to find that her actually holding out the plate and glass herself. After sitting a short bit away from him for a minute while he ate she suddenly stood up.

"Wait here" She ordered before dashing upstairs.

Shikamaru blinked slightly in confusion. He realised that it was the first time she'd actually spoken to him directly. He'd seen her ghosting around the shop from time to time, but she always seemed to be in a hurry to get out of his sight. He wasn't entirely sure why, but this disheartened him, and made him even more desperate to go home.

His already unstable train of thought was derailed when she bounded down the steps, three at a time and almost landed in a skip next to him. She was holding something in her hand, but Shikamaru didn't have time to see what it was before she shifted behind him.

"Hold still" She said firmly, before pulling his fringe back out of his face.

After a minute or so of tugging and pulling slightly at his hair, Ino shuffled back around in front of him. Shikamaru lifted a hand up to try and find out what she'd done, but the young girl slapped his hand away and pointed towards a mirror further down the hall. Walking over to it, his eyes widened a bit. She'd tied his hair back into a sort of spiky bunch with a purple band. He had to admit, it didn't look too bad, apart from the colour. Moments later she was standing behind him grinning.

"It's been bugging me" she said relievedly, "It's no wonder you kicked the ball through our window; how could you see with all that hair in your eyes?". Before Shikamaru could answer she suddenly started giggling. Shikamaru felt his cheeks heat up. Turning around to ask her what was so funny, he was stopped in his tracks when she prodded his forehead.

"Hehe, although without the hair, you remind me of a friend of mine - she's got a pretty big forehead too" she laughed before skipping away and calling behind her, "See you at the Acadamy, Chore Boy!".

Shikamaru walked home in a bit of a daze, in some small part due to the sun shining in his now uncovered eyes. His father had once told him that he had the potential to do anything he put his mind to, architecture, literature, sports, whatever his heart desired. Sitting in his room that afternoon, Shikamaru dug out an old toy kunai he'd discarded long ago and turned it over in his hands. He didn't know why, but somehow he felt like he knew what he would put his mind to.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes and sighed irritably. This was such a stupid thing. Irrational and detrimental. But he couldn't help himself. He drummed the box with his thumbs slightly, thinking about everything that had just happened. He supposed he would have to find somewhere else to stargaze... for now. The more he thought about it, the more it made his stomach feel like it was trying to crush itself. She didn't remember about the window. Even if she did... she probably wouldn't understand without a bit more explanation. She wouldn't realize that the reason he was always looking to the skies... was because it was the only place he could find anything worth looking at... when she wasn't around.

He turned the box upside down and expertly slid a few wooden panels around, solving the puzzle lock just like he'd done countless times before. It had been a present from his grandfather when he was very young. The old man had told Shikamaru that one day he would find something that meant enough to him, that it would be worth keeping locked up safe. Flipping the lid open, he reached inside and took out a band of purple cloth. Squeezing it slightly, he sat in thought for a minute that felt like an eternity. Finally, he placed it back in the box, locked it and put it away.

"Not yet..."

The End.

_Author's Notes:  
I am truly sorry that this chapter took over a year to get done. I basically started this fic with the last two paragraphs in mind. Getting to that part proved a lot harder than I expected. I really hope it was worth the wait... o_o_

I'd like to dedicate this fanfic to ren-shika-inu15 for their support through this and Rose Tinted Clouds. In addition credit must be given to BrattlyMoshkins2019, who's initial review was the reason this fic got past Chapter One.

I don't expect to write any more Naruto for a while, and when I do - it will be a different pairing. If you include your favourite pairings in any further reviews I will take them into consideration.

Thank you all for your Buddhist-like patience and support. There is bonus art as reparation; Kid Shikamaru - fav(dot)me/d4nuzy3

- K_N


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